


Lost to Time

by overshadows



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Backstory, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-02-08
Packaged: 2018-05-19 01:10:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5950482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/overshadows/pseuds/overshadows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her contractions are intense and Ni feels as if she's being ripped in half. It takes over twelve hours for her to be dilated enough to begin pushing properly. Ni's mother shakes her head and says to herself, "This boy is hardheaded. Does things his own way, at his own pace."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost to Time

**Author's Note:**

> I wish I had the link to the blog post that inspired this. It had to do with Finn and his backstory, obviously.  
> While I know almost nothing about Star Wars, I really wanted to write this. I haven't seen The Force Awakens (or any of the movies, just bits and pieces and memes on twitter) so I did a little bit of googling to figure some things out. Don't hate me if it's a bit... off. I promise I tried my best.

The heat is unrelenting the morning Ni goes into labor. She's been heavily pregnant and awaiting for this day ever since she found out she was expecting. That day, her husband, Koğo, told anyone who would listen. _"My wife is having a baby!"_  


She knew it wouldn't be easy to give birth, her mother and sisters made sure to tell her. Ni tried to prepare herself for it, but the actual pain doesn't come close to what she had in mind.

"Breathe," her mother tells her. "Breathe slowly."

Koğo finds it hard to see her in such agony, yet there isn't much he can do. He sits beside her, holding her hand and wiping the sweat from her brow and feeding her water when she calls for it. Ni pleads with him, she wants this to be over, she can't take it anymore.

"It'll be over before you know it," he whispers in her ear. "Our baby will be here soon. You'll finally get to see his little face." This calms her down enough and soon the only sounds in their home is her labored breathing. Koğo is a strong, powerful man, and deadly if need be. Yet he's never felt as small and useless as he does now. His wife, the only woman he's ever truly loved, is begging for his help and he can do nothing to alleviate her suffering.

Her contractions are intense and Ni feels as if she's being ripped in half. It takes over twelve hours for her to be dilated enough to begin pushing properly. Ni's mother shakes her head and says to herself, "This boy is hardheaded. Does things his own way, at his own pace." She lifts her gaze up to her daughter's face. "Ni!" She yells at her but Ni can't hear her over her own screams. "You need to listen to me! You must begin bearing down!" Ni's mother has delivered more babies than she can count, she knows what she's doing. "The baby is almost here, you need to push."

The baby slowly makes his way out and Ni's mother holds onto his head. "Not long now," she tells them. Soon after, the baby's shoulders come out. Everything else happens in the blink of an eye.

When Ni feels that he's out completely, she begins openly weeping. Her mother grabs hold of the baby and places him on Ni's bare chest. His dark eyes look deep into hers and in that second, Ni forgets all the pain.

"Mayowa," she says with tears in her eyes. "Mayowa, Mayowa, Mayowa," she whispers as she places a tender kiss to his forehead.

The first week of having him is relatively easy. He's a pretty quiet baby and spends most of his days sleeping soundly.

Ni is rocking their child in her arms, softly singing a lullaby in her mother tongue. Koğo doesn't understand what she's saying, but he loves listening to her voice and watching her move. He watches her walk around the room, his eyes drift from the back of her head, to her shoulders, down to her swaying hips.

"Motherhood looks good on you," he says to her, causing her to turn to face him. She finds him smiling that same smile that turns her knees to jelly.

Ni feels her face grow hot and suddenly finds it hard to look at him in the eye any longer.

 

 

It's been a year since Mayowa was born and he's turned into an active little boy. He never sits still, constantly wants to be moving. Ni and Koğo have both noticed his independence and his love for doing things on his own. He didn't need help to stand or begin walking. Koğo was the one who noticed he was standing on his own. He screamed for Ni, who couldn't keep from giggling when she saw him clapping at his own achievement.

 

When Ni awoke one morning, she felt odd from the very beginning. She opened her eyes and looked around to see if something was out of place. She can't shake the feeling that something isn't right, but she gets out of bed, figuring it must be nothing.

She leaves with Mayowa to visit Asim, the young girl that often looks after son. She's the only person besides his parents that Mayowa tolerates. Asim lives alone and she's always been kind to Ni and Koğo. Ni will visit her every other day just to keep her company and help her out whenever she needs it. Asim found it hard to move around some days. She had her leg crushed when she was a child, thus she needed a prosthetic. She often joked that she faked her discomfort just because she liked having Ni around to help her.

Ni happily listens to Mayowa's babbling on the way to Asim's, though she still can't shake that odd feeling. It's a funny thing; she feels restless and nauseous. For a while she thought she might be pregnant again and how great it would be for her son to have a sibling. She can see Asim's home and if she hurries, she knows they can get there in under a minute.

Her blood runs cold when she hears the sound of the incoming ships. Ni looks up and there they are, those menacing things that bring nothing but destruction and death. Mayowa begins crying uncontrollably in her arms, and Ni takes off.

Wars have always been fought and people have been slaughtered over senseless things. Ni and Koğo did not want any part of it, they were not going to be involved in wars that had nothing to do with them.

Ni runs faster than she ever has in her entire life. She needs to go back home, she needs to find Koğo because she knows he will keep them safe. _Her husband will save them._

She gets halfway there when finds him among the stampede of people, many of them almost knocking her down with no regard to the child in her arms. His face and clothes are stained with blood and before she can say anything, Koğo tells her, "It's not mine."

He's got a fierce look in his eyes, she's never seen him like this before. Ni knows his strength and what he's capable of. The things he had to do when he was younger, before they met and settled down, would make anyone's blood run cold. Everything he did had to be done out of necessity and it makes her want to weep. She truly thought they had left behind anything that would cause him to have to do ugly things again.

Koğo grabs her arm and pulls her behind an old, broken down ship. He picks up a piece of worn cloth and tears off a large piece. He wraps it tightly around Mayowa and shushes his little cries.

"Hey," he says and kisses her forehead. "We'll be alright," he tells her, but she knows he's frightened. She knows he doesn't believe his own words. "Run west as far as you can get. I'll take care of the rest."

"What? What about you? I won't leave you!"

"You have to. For him," he says and places his hand over Mayowa's head. "Go now."

"I love you," she tells him and there it is, that sweet smile that won her over so many years ago.

"I love you, too," he says, wiping her tears away. "My sweet Ni."

Ni kisses him deeply, knowing it will be the last time they'll ever see each other.

 

She had seen the ships in the sky, but had yet to see the actual threat on the ground. Upon seeing them, her mother's words ring in her head, _'The white death.'_ Ni runs for shelter behind anything that could keep them out of sight for enough time to plan her next move. She's holding her baby tight to her chest, rocking him lightly to keep him calm. It's useless as Mayowa is crying and fussing in her arms. The rapid movement and loud noises are frightening him.

People are dying all around her, being taken down with no regard for anything. If you're running, you're a target. Ni notices a familiar tunic just a few feet away. It's the dark red tunic she had made especially for Asim. Her eyes drift down and she sees the prosthetic.

Against her better judgement, Ni looks around to see if it's safe to come out. She needs to confirm it's really her.

She kneels down and reaches out to touch her face. Her soft, light brown hair is stained with her own blood. Her eyes are open, staring straight up into the sky. Ni has to force herself to look away from her ashen face. She hates to leave her there on the ground like an old, forgotten doll, but she must keep going. For herself, for Koğo, for their child.

A stormtrooper in the distance spots her and makes his way towards her. Ni takes off once more, running until her lungs burn and threaten to burst. The sound of screams and yells sound so far away and the stormtrooper seems to have given up. She feels safe enough to squat behind someone's home for a breather. Running is her only option as every method of travel has been destroyed down to piles of burning debris. She wishes this was all a terrible nightmare and that soon she will wake up in her own bed next to Koğo.

Her eyes snap open and the daydream dissipates when she hears a stormtrooper calling out to her. She holds on tighter to her child and gets up to run away. A second stormtrooper blindsides her, knocking her down and she manages to take the brunt of the hit, keeping her baby as safe as possible. She could perhaps outrun one stormtrooper, but it's useless to fight off two. Ni knows it's the end of the line. There's nowhere left to run.

"Give up the child," the one in front of her says.

"No!" She screams and spits at its feet.

The stormtrooper comes forward, attempting to snatch the bundle from her arms. A struggle ensues, but Ni isn't strong enough to stop him and he hands a crying Mayowa off to the stormtrooper that called out to her just a few moments ago. A surge of anger and grief comes out of nowhere and Ni stands, lunging at the white death itself. She digs her fingers underneath its head, hoping to rip it off. Ni wants to destroy it with her own two hands.

Instead of beheading it, instead of seeing wires and metal, she sees a man. A simple human man. With his red hair and green eyes that could seem almost non-threatening under different circumstances. Right now, Ni wants to gouge those big, green eyes out. And she attempts to do so, scratching at his face. One of her fingers manages make contact with his left eye and he screams in pain. The stormtrooper backhands her with enough force to knock her off her feet once more.

The last thing she sees before the world goes dark is Mayowa in the hands of a stormtrooper, screaming and reaching out for her.


End file.
